Little Red: Apokolips Now
by newsiesgirllaces
Summary: Livy is 18 and feels that she should take on bigger name villains. Jason doesn't completely agree, but when Jason and the Outlaws go missing, Livy finds that she might regret what she had wished for.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is the fourth Livy story! I've been sitting on this for awhile but now i know where i want to take it. This happens after the Livy and Damian one-shots (that i will still be updating). Enjoy! **

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.1

"Japanese food never gets old." Livy smiled as she pinched the sushi with her chop sticks. Lying comfortably on her bed, Livy was currently off duty unless Jason radioed in needing her help.

Lancy glared at her friend from over the computer screen with annoyance.

"You're making me want to eat, not study." She grunted.

"Sorry. Anyway, when's your Spanish Final?" Livy inquired as she swallowed some sushi.

"It's a week from now." Lancy informed, and Livy let out a long sigh while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You postponed studying until a week before the final?"

"If school has taught me one thing, it is how to be a good procrastinator." Lancy smirked. "Anyway, it's not like this final is going to kill me if I don't do well. I have a solid B in the class. If I drop a letter grade, it's no big deal."

"Lancy!" Livy gave her friend and reprimanding glare and Lancy rolled her eyes.

"Ugh. You sound like the mother I never had."

"You can't go into a test with the mentality of not caring how you do or you won't do well! Don't go around being negative like that." Livy scolded.

"I'm not negative."

"You're sure as hell ain't positive." Livy snapped. "Now, list me the conjugations."

"Ugh!" Lancy groaned while resting her head in her hands.

"You can't even conjugate!?"

"I can! I just hate it." Lancy debated.

"Well, tough luck, it's kinda important. How do you say 'we dance'?" Livy quizzed.

"Bailo." Lancy stated with confidence, but quickly faltered. "Wait that's wrong… Bailas?"

"Bailamos, Lancy. There is a song about it." Livy sighed,

"Really?"

"Yeah, y'know. Bailamos. Let the rhythm take you over Bailamos. Te quiero amor mio

Bailamos. Wanna live this life forever Bailamos. Te quiero amor mio. Te quiero." Livy sung.

"Well sorry if I don't own a Ricky Martin CD."

"It's a song by Enrique Iglesias." Livy corrected and Lancy shot her an annoyed look.

"Same difference."

"Your impossible." Livy groaned, resting her head in her hands.

"I love you my love." Lancy stated after several moments of silence.

"What?" Livy questioned, puzzled.

"I love you my love. Te quiero amor mio. That part of the song you just sung."

"So you understand Spanish?"

"How do you think I keep a B in the class? Understanding it is no problem. Speaking it is totally different."

"Alright, then we'll focus on talking it." Livy nodded.

"Before we start, I need to catch up with you." Lancy stated quickly. "What's the news on you and Damian?"

"Still together. He started video chatting me so it's fun to talk to him. I miss him though." Livy informed with a small frown.

"Y'know, he visited me last week. He just wanted to make sure I was alright and that I was "doing admirable in my studies" so… yeah. He never changes."

"He's not that bad."

"Well, he's been less of a dick towards me since the two of you started dating, but I think he seriously disapproves of your selection of friends." Lancy grunted.

"He disapproves of a lot of my decisions. He knows how to deal with it." Livy shrugged with a small smirk.

"How long are you going to be staying in Japan? Is Gotham going to get a visit from Little Red anytime soon?"

"Actually, tomorrow we're leaving for the United Kingdom." Livy informed with a small smile.

"Lucky! The UK sounds soooo cool! I mean, Dr. Who and Sherlock and Merlin…"

"You've been watching BBC America way too much."

"There is no such thing as _too much _BBC America." Lancy grinned. "Anyway, what type of business do you have there?"

"Nothing serious. Roy said he found a string of events that look like there's some terrorist group there. We're not that certain about if it's true or not, but we're going to check it out anyway." Livy shrugged.

"Sounds like fun." Lancy grunted. "Don't you guys ever travel just to enjoy a place?"

"Not often. We're always either chasing assassins or terrorist or some villain y'know, stuff like that." Livy chuckled. It was her life, and she was accustomed to it.

"Does it ever get boring?"

"Nope. Anyway, enough about me. How's Philadelphia?" Livy inquired and Lancy's face brightened.

"Great! I got accepted to Temple. It's gonna be awesome!"

"What are you majoring in?" questioned Livy.

"Natural Science. I want to be a Zoologist " Lancy stated proudly.

"Doesn't that require knowing some Latin?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at the Latin stuff though with all those genus and classification stuff." Lancy said nonchalantly with a shrug.

Livy's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Latin and Spanish are so similar! How do you get one and not the other?"

"How did we get back to the subject of Spanish?" Lancy groaned.

"You have a final soon and I'm not going to be a bad friend and let you distract yourself from studying."

"Ugh." Lancy sighed heavily.

Livy couldn't believe how she and Lancy managed to be so different but so the same. She had been friends for years with her and was glad that she was able to turn her life around so well.

Lancy's body was still covered in scars due to her burns, but she wasn't teased much because of them. Livy made it obvious to people that Lancy was not a person to be messed with.

It only took one boy to torment Lancy about her scars during her first few weeks of school.

A boy spread the rumor around her school that Lancy was scarred up so bad because she tried to light herself on fire when the girl she liked broke up with her. She was tormented for being a lesbian and for allegedly trying to kill herself.

Livy quickly found out who the boy was and made his life a living hell. She manage to steal his cell phone, driver's license, and she took all the wheels off of his car.

Livy didn't stop there. She posted pictures of the boy throughout the halls of the school of him jacking off in his room.

Lastly, after two weeks of that torment, Livy stopped the boy on his way from school as Little Red.

_"I don't like bullies." She growled and the boy whimpered in fear. _

_ "I-I didn't do anything. Actually, I'm being bullied at school. I'm not a bully!" he informed, his voice high and terrified. _

_ "Oh, so all those rumors you spread about that girl doesn't make you a bully?"_

_ "they weren't lies." Livy punched the boy in the gut. _

_ "You don't even know her! Take back what you said about Lancy and apologize in front of the student body to her."_

_ "Or what?"_

_ "Or I will continue to make your life a living hell." She growled._

Needless to say, Lancy was never bullied again.

"So, how would you say 'I'm Hungry?'" Livy quizzed.

"Tengo… sed?"

"Did you pay attention in Spanish class at _all_!?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the short chapter!**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.2

"Jason, I can _do_ this."

"I know you can, but I don't want to spread our resources too thin on the off chance that Roy's right about these guys." Jason stated. "We'll call you in if we need any help. But unless you hear a signal, I need you to investigate a possible drug dealing ring in Dalston Carlisle."

"Alright." Livy grumbled, blowing some of the curly blond bangs out of her face.

The two were drinking coffee together at a café in the airport while waiting for their flight. Roy booked a separate flight and Kor'i was flying on her own so they both could do some further investigating. They also figured that if they arrived separate they would draw less attention.

"I still wish you trusted me enough to let me take on something bigger than petty thieves, rapists, and drug dealers. I mean, the most excitement I get is the occasional assassin." Livy pouted.

"It's not like I don't trust you." Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just don't trust the guys we go up against. I don't want anything bad happening to you."

"Jason, I'm eighteen." Livy pointed out, but the man shook his head.

"Age has nothing to do with it. You could be in your late thirties for all I care, I still would hate to see you get hurt." Jason stated with a small smile. He looked down at his watch, then stood to his feet.

"Our flight's gonna be taking off soon. Let's head out."

Livy followed Jason onto the plane while digging a book out of her backpack to read on the way to the UK.

To say that Livy was getting a tad restless was an understatement. She wanted to take on the big guys. She knew she could. She had fought so many people and she knew she was ready.

However, Jason was still protective and he was afraid of what would happen if she went up against someone who she couldn't handle.

"Have you talked to the little demon recently?" Jason inquired and Livy raised her eyes from the book.

"He's not a demon."

"You sure about that? I think there might be little horns sprouting up from his head. Not to mention he acts completely heartless and evil. He's a demon."

"You know, it would be great if you at least _tried _to like my boyfriend." Livy stated with a small frown.

"I'm a Dad. Nobody's good enough for you. Especially that little piece of sh-"

"Fine. You'll never like him. And no, I haven't talked to him. He's been busy every time I tried to video chat him and vice versa." Livy sighed. "But, I've been talking to Lancy and she's doing alright. She's a lousy Spanish student, but she's alright."

"Well, that's good to hear… I suppose." Jason smiled.

He honestly did not know what Livy saw in Damian and was waiting for the day the two would break up. Unfortunately, that didn't seem likely anytime in the near future.

However, Jason knew that he couldn't try to force the two apart. He honestly wanted to see his daughter happy. If she was happy with a boy who respected her then there wasn't much he could do to stop her.

She was a Todd. Someone telling her not to do something would just be more incentive to do it. Jason knew because that was how he was as a teen.

So he wouldn't tell her to stop dating Damian. However, Jason would still often voice his disapproval.

Livy was back reading her book while Jason ran over the plan of what he, Kor'i, and Roy were going to do once they reached their destination. He hated having to deal with people like terrorists, and he prayed that there would just be a group of burglars or something squatting in the warehouse they planned on going to.

He let out a long sigh, looking around at all the people on the plane, then at Livy, who had fallen asleep in the middle of reading her book.

Yes, he really hoped that they wouldn't be facing terrorists.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for not updating. College is still pretty hectic. I've managed to write bit by bit of this chapter. Sorry if it's a bit fast paced, I was trying to slow it down and only managed a little. Please enjoy and constructive criticsm is always great!**

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.3

"Saddling me with drug dealers." Livy grumbled as she waited for the group of men to show up while Jason, Kor'i, and Roy went after big time game. She was leaning against the wall of an ally behind some dumpsters in the shadows. "I've stopped so many drug dealers, I lost count."

Next thing she knew, several expensive looking cars pulled up to where the ally was. Exiting the car were men holding suit cases and all of them were dressed much nicer than any low time drug dealer.

_Why does this not look like the typical drug deal? _Livy thought to herself. Instead of going into the ally, the group of men moved into the building next to it.

Livy silently climbed through the window of the building curiously, hiding behind a wooden crate.

The group of men walked into the room and took their place at a table, acting very civil. Then one man with slicked back gray hair questioned,

"Are the goods here?" he was looking at the man who was across from him who appeared fairly young.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Do you have the money?" the young man inquired.

The older gentleman nodded to one of his cohorts, and a suit case was placed onto the table. Inside were wads of cash.

The young man smiled, then nodded to one of his men. Another man opened a secret compartment on the wall to reveal an arsenal of weapons.

"I assume that these suit your taste, Mr. Ravensdale." The older gentleman nodded with a small grin on his face.

"Indeed they do."

_Jason, this is an arms deal, not a drug deal. _Livy thought. _And Ravensdale… Marcus Ravensdale… I heard the name before. Isn't that the name of a powerful mafia member. Stuff's actually looking exciting. _Livy thought with a small smile.

"Don't mind my asking, but I'm curious. Why do you need more guns? It seems to me that you already have enough firepower." The younger man inquired as Ravensdale's men took the weaponry.

"Something's coming, boy." Ravensdale stated. "I suggest from here on out you keep your guns to yourself."

_Now, what's that supposed to mean? _Livy wondered, hoping that more information could be obtained if she kept listening.

"What do you-" the young man stopped midsentence. "I thought I instructed all of the windows to be locked." His eyes were on the window that Livy had crawled in through.

Just then, Livy felt a large hand on her shoulder from one of the guards.

"Shit." Livy grumbled as she was pulled from her hiding spot and revealed to the men. She felt all eyes on her, and Livy wanted to kick herself for being so careless.

_I'm off my game today. _She thought sourly.

"I've never seen you before." Ravensdale hummed.

"I'm new here." Livy shrugged, trying to figure a way out of the mess she had gotten herself into.

"Doesn't matter. We won't be seeing you again." The young man raised his gun to shoot at Livy. Before she could make a move to dodge, a figure appeared from thin air and kicked the gun out of the man's hands.

"Surprise!" the figure, who was a girl in a zip up hoodie, exclaimed.

"It's the witch!" one of the men exclaimed, then opened fire on the girl. She evaded the bullets quickly, while going hand to hand with the men.

"Witch? I find that a bit insulting." She pouted. "I mean, I never went to Hogwarts. Stupid letter never came in the mail." She flipped and elbowed a man in the face. "I do have a name, y'know? Red Fox? I'm pretty sure I told you this last time we met. Has a nice ring, don't you think?"

The girl, Red Fox, found two gun barrels aimed at both sides of her face.

"Honestly, you people are so stupid." She mumbled. Just as they pulled the trigger, the girl poofed away, resulting in the bullets hitting the man opposite from each other.

All the while, Livy was fighting off the men as well.

When Red Fox reappeared, she was standing next to Livy.

"I dunno who you are, but you got style." She smirked, but then frowned when she looked at her hands and saw a wheel of cheese. "bloody hell, _again_?" she grumbled. She threw the cheese at one of the men, and helped Livy fight the goons.

Unfortunately, by the time they were done, Ravensdale managed to slip away.

"Ravensdale got away." Livy grumbled, sighing heavily.

"Yeah, he tends to do that a lot. Anyway, we made a pretty ace team back there." Red Fox smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for the backup." Livy grinned at the girl, shaking her hand. She looked to be about Livy's age, except she was much shorter. The girl's outfit was definitely homemade. She had a red zip up hoodie that was a bit large on her and had a belt around her hips. On one side of the hoodie, there was a stitched in fancy 'R'. On the hood of the jacket, were fabric that looked like ears. She wore a plan black domino mask over her eyes, black leggings, and red lace up boots. Her coppery brown hair was in a braid. Her skin was a darker tone, and Livy could tell by the way her nose was shaped that she had some sort of African in her.

"Do you know why Ravensdale wanted the weapons?" Livy inquired. She wasn't usually one to be so trusting right away, but this girl seemed to know her way around and also it was clear that the two were on the same side. Red Fox shook her head.

"Afraid not. I've been trying to figure it out but they've been really tight lipped about it. Whatever it's about, it doesn't look good." She sighed.

"Have you been investigating the Ravensdales? Something tells me that this is part of something bigger." Livy stated and Red Fox nodded.

"Yeah. I can never find stuff that makes their crimes stick but I keep tabs on them. I have the info at my headquarters if you wanna look through them." Red Fox informed. Livy was surprised with how cooperative this other hero was being, but if she was going to get any more information about what was going on with the Ravensdale family, this girl was a good start.

"Sounds good. Lemme Radio in with my partners first though." Livy hit the com link in her ear to contact Jason, but all she got was static. She tried changing the frequencies to Roy and Kori's but nothing came through.

"This isn't right." Livy murmured.

"Something wrong?"

"They're not picking up."

"Know where they'd be?" Red Fox inquired, and Livy nodded, telling the other girl the address.

"I'll get you there in no time." Red Fox grinned. She grasped Livy's hand and in a blink of an eye, the two were in front of the warehouse Jason was supposed to be in.

"Whoa. A bit dizzy." Livy grunted.

"Sorry about that. You'll get used to it if I do it to you enough." Red Fox chuckled sheepishly. Livy looked at the girl, perplexed.

"Uh, Red Fox… why are you holding sausage links?" the girl looked into her hands and, indeed, there nestled in her arms were several sausages all tied together.

"Why food most of the time?" Red Fox mumbled as she poofed away the meat. "So, are we checking out this place for your teammates?" she inquired, ignoring Livy's question.

Livy nodded and headed into the warehouse to find… blood. There was large amounts of blood and it was clear that there was a fight. However, no bodies could be found.

"Awful lot of blood." Red Fox said in a wavering voice. She place a hand over her nose to lessen then coppery smell of the gore.

Livy's mind was in a panic. Jason, Roy, and Kor'i didn't pick up and she finds pools of blood everywhere where they had been. This was anything but good.

"Dammit." She gritted her teeth and tried contacting them again, still only getting static.

"I have a friend who might be able to tell us what happened here." Red Fox informed and Livy's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll give him a call." Red Fox pulled out a cellphone from her belt, hit a button for sped dial and waited. The phone rang several times until it finally picked up.

_"What do you want Red. It's late." _The voice groaned. Livy could hear the vlice due to the phone being on speaker.

"Well hello to you too." Red Fox huffed. "I just wanted to ask you a favor. There's some stuff I need you to investigate."

_"Not tonight."_

"But Pooooolt." She whined.

_"Set a time with me tomorrow." _Livy heard the voice on the other end let out a pained gasp. _"I'm dealing with something nasty right now and it is draining my energy." _

Red Fox's face immediately looked concerned.

"Want me to come and help?"

_"And have you screw everything up? What I want you to do is hang up the damn phone!" _the voice shouted.

"Yeesh. Fine." Red Fox grunted, then hung up. "Soooo, it looks like we can start looking tomorrow." Red Fox sighed.

"But what about my team?" Livy questioned. They were her family and she didn't want to abandon them.

"Look, I know this doesn't look good, but my friend can _always _pick up a trail. Besides, it's late. We should rest up so we're ready to look for them tomorrow. I can show you the info I have on the Ravensdales then too." She explained and Livy slowly nodded.

_Jason'll be okay. He always is okay. He has to be okay. _She thought.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Red Fox inquired and Livy shrugged.

"I'm sure I can find some place."

"You can stay with me if you like." The shorter girl smiled. "I have a spare room."

Livy looked at the girl skeptically. _She's being really nice. Almost… too nice. Can I really trust her? What if she's working for some sort of opposing mafia group and that was why she was fighting the Ravensdale group. Then again… maybe if that is the case I can discover more. Maybe she knew what the man was talking about when he said that something was coming._

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Not at all." Red Fox beamed, poofing Livy into what appeared to be a guest room in a small house. Livy wanted to ask about the girl's metahuman abilities, but she didn't want to risk angering her and getting kicked out.

The guest room looked small but comfortable with green blankets on the bed with matching pillows. The curtains were a soft blue color and the walls were beige. Livy didn't know what the color scheme was, but she didn't care. It was cozy looking and she was tired.

"Do you want some clothes to change into? I have some t-shirts and sweatpants. You don't have to if you don't wanna though. I just thought you might not be comfortable sleeping in you uniform."

"Thanks." Livy smiled. Red Fox ran off, then returned with the clothing.

"Alright so… the bathroom is right across from this room and my room is to your left if you need anything." Red Fox explained.

"Thanks for everything. You sure that I'm not being a bother?"

"Not at all. It's actually really great to have some company." Red Fox beamed. "Well… uh… Goodnight." With that, the girl left the room.

Livy looked at the bundle of clothes and noticed the t-shirt had the words Backstreet Boys written across it.

It made Livy smile, remembering the old songs sung by the boy band. Just thinking about the outdated songs made her briefly forget about her worry over her father. enough to get her to fall asleep in the warm comfortable bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry for taking forever to update, but i will try to update this story more regularly. **

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.4

"EVERYBODY! YEAH! ROCK YOUR BODY! YEAH! EVERYBODY! ROCK YOUR BODY RIGHT! BACKSTREET'S BACK! ALRIGHT!"

Livy blinked her eyes open to hear someone singing down the hall. Rolling out of the bed, Livy padded barefoot out of the guestroom. She was still in uniform aside from her boots, and her hair was messy with strands of golden locks falling out of her braid. However, Livy didn't care much for how she looked in the morning.

As Livy continued to walk down the hall, the louder the singing voice got, and the smell of cinnamon was in the air.

She then found herself in a very messy dining room and kitchen. There were books, papers, and various other objects strewn throughout the area. Livy wondered that if she stared long enough she might have been able to see some sort of order in the chaos.

Livy's eyes then laid on the girl singing, who was cooking something on the griddle of the oven. Her skin was dark, and her hair wild and curly. She was wearing black pajama pants and what appeared to be an N'sync t-shirt.

"AM I ORIGINAL? YEAH! AM I YOUR ONLY ONE? YEAH! AM I SEXUAL?"

"Yeah." Livy sung with a small smirk. The girl jumped and turned around to see Livy.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry, Little Red. Did I wake you up?" she questioned. Livy recognized the girl as Red Fox, even though she wasn't wearing her costume, or even a mask.

"No, it's fine." Livy shrugged with a smile, then stated, "You must trust me a lot to show yourself out of costume and mask to me."

"What are you talking about? My mask's right…" Red Fox touched her face, and Livy could see her pupils widen in shock. "Oh… oh shit!" she covered her face and snapped her fingers. Poofing into her free hand was a hat.

"Not a hat. My _mask._" she grumbled, but Livy rested a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Calm down. Here," Livy pulled her own mask of. "Now we're even."

Livy trusted this girl enough to show her face , and if Red Fox was working for some sort of mafia group, then this would further earn her trust. Livy didn't see showing her face to the girl as something that could be detrimental.

"Oh… wow… your eyes are really pretty." The girl smiled. "N-not to sound weird or anything, it's just… y'know blond people usually have light eyes but your eyes are like a golden brown which is really cool." Red Fox said quickly.

"Uh, thanks." Livy grinned, then frowned when her nose picked up the smell of smoke. "I think whatever you're cooking is burning."

"Agh!" Red Fox turned her attention back to the griddle. "You can have a seat at the table if you want. I'll be finished with these pancakes soon." She informed, and Livy nodded, making her way to the table not too far from the stove.

The table had multiple books strewn on it, and Livy's eyes were caught on the title: _The Stars Freedom _by Dallas Colón.

She opened it and paged through, noticing that several passages were highlighted. Livy had wanted to read the book, it being on her _To Read _list.

Opening the book, Livy poured over the first several pages. She enjoyed the characters and chuckled at some moments. Livy found it easy to get lost in books and this book was no different. However, just from reading several pages, she knew that she would definitely enjoy it more than others.

"Breakfast is served." Red Fox smiled, snapping Livy out of the book.

"Thanks." Livy grinned, feeling her stomach growl, just then realizing that she was hungry.

"Do you like the book?" Red Fox inquired, looking at the book in Livy's hands. Red Fox seemed nervous, which confused Livy, however she smiled and replied,

"From what I've read it's really good. I love reading and _The Stars Freedom_ has been on my _to read_ list for a while."

"Really? If you like it, you can keep it." Red Fox's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Are you sure? You've got some passages highlighted."

"Please, take it. I just highlighted sections that I thought were good. It's just… I'm really happy you like the same book I do and that you're sitting here, an actual known hero and it's just really cool." She babbled.

"I'm not _that _well known." Livy stated.

"Better than me. A random meta that Knight and Squire helped out." Red Fox shrugged. Before Livy could ask her more about her past, she heard a door open and slam shut and heavy footsteps.

Livy tensed, ready to attack the intruder, however, Red Fox looked calm and collected. There was no sign that a person in the house bothered the owner.

Slugging into view was a teen with silver hair, dark circles under his eyes, and he was wearing a suit and tie. However, his tie was loose around his neck and several buttons on his suit were unbuttoned. He had an air of death about him.

The figure grabbed a plate of pancakes and made his way to the kitchen table.

"Hey Addie." He nodded to Red Fox, then squinted his eyes at Livy.

"Nice to meet you… L… Lu… Li… Livy? Yeah. Livy. Nice to meet you Livy." He murmured, then collapsed onto a seat and started inhaling the pancakes.

"Polt!" Red Fox, otherwise known as Addie, exclaimed.

"What? She has a good aura. She won't go around blabbing your name." he shrugged, then finished off the rest of the pancakes on the plate. His eyes met with Livy and he grinned at her baffled look.

"Nice to meet you, Livy. My name's Poltergeist, but I also go by Xavier." He informed.

"How do you-"

"I'm a medium." He stated. "A really strong medium. Speaking of which," Polt turned to look at Addie, "you are seriously pissing off the old housewife who used to live here."

"I vacuum and do the dishes." Addie argued and Polt's eyes scanned the room. "Yeah, and that's about it. She is very upset how unorganized things are."

"It's my house now. She's gotta get used to it." Addie stated, crossing her arms. Just then, an open cabinet door slammed shut, making everyone except Xavier jump about two feet into the air. "However, I'll try to clean more." Addie squeaked. Xavier's attention went from Addie to Livy.

"So, Livy, are you the person who needs someone found?" Xavier inquired and she nodded.

"Well, despite the how awful the burnt pancakes taste, they have given me a boost." Xavier smiled. "Give me about ten minutes to nap and we can head out to the place where they were taken." Xavier froze for a moment, looking Livy over. "And in that time you might want to give a certain loved one a call. You miss him." with that, Xavier walked over to a couch in the living room, pushed off a lot of papers from it, apologized to the air about the mess, then passed out.

"You need to call someone?" Addie inquired, and Livy nodded.

"Yeah, can I use your phone?"

"Sure." Addie grinned, pointing to a phone connected to the wall. It's been years since she had seen one of those.

She called Wayne Manor, getting Alfred.

"Hey Alfred, it's Livy, may I speak to Damian?"

_"__Of course." _Alfred's warm voice replied and in a matter of seconds, Damian was on the phone.

_"__Livy?"_

"Hey Damian. I'm sorry this mission is taking so long. But my Dad's gone missing so I need to find him. We might have just uncovered something big here, too. I don't know when I'll be coming back."

_"__I… understand." _Damian informed with some hesitance in his voice. She had been away for a while, longer than usual.

"You know that I miss you, right? I promise Damian, once this is over I'll stay in Gotham for as long as I can. Maybe even a year or more. I miss you so much."

_"__I can't wait." _Damian stated.

"What-" the phone then went dead. "Damian? Damian!?" Livy looked at the phone, then slowly hung up.

_What did he mean? Did we just break up? Goddamn it! _

"Hey, are you okay?" Addie inquired and Livy pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation.

"Boyfriend issues. I think we just broke up." When the words left Livy's mouth, her heart sunk. This wasn't a relationship that was on the rocks. No, Livy and Damian had been dating for years. Damian sounding irritated and hanging up was something sudden. "I hope not though. It was unclear. He couldn't…" she took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "One thing at a time. Once Xavier wakes up, we can try to find my team and move on from there."

"Sounds like a plan." Addie smiled. "And I'm sure you can figure what's going on with your boyfriend out. It'll be great. I'm sure the guy is sitting in his room singing,

Your love is like a river

Peaceful and deep

Your soul is like a secret

That I never could keep

When I look into your eyes

I know that it's true

God must have spent...

A little more time

On you..." Addie's voice was nice, but she seemed to sing not to show off, but simply because she loved doing it.

"Huh. First the backstreet boys and then the N'sync. I have a hunch you like some 90's music." Livy chuckled and Addie couldn't help but laugh.

"I like boy bands. Dunno what it is about them, but when you get a lot of guys together to sing, I love it." she smirked.

"Lemme guess, you also like one direction then?" Livy questioned, and Addie squealed in delight.

"Oh my god Harry Styles is just lovely isn't he? Though, I find myself more into Liam-"

"Some of us here are TRYING TO SLEEP!" Xavier screamed from the couch, then stated to what Livy assumed was a spirit, "You poor soul how do you stand living with that twit."

Addie simply stuck her tongue out in Xavier's direction, then looked back to Livy.

"Polt can get cranky, but he'll be sure to help you out. Everything'll be great." She smiled optimistically.

Livy found that Addie's smile was infectious and she was quickly grinning ear to ear. She certainly hoped that Addie was right.


	5. Chapter 5

Chpt.5

"You're group. This involves your father, am I right?" Xavier questioned, but the look on his face told Livy that he already knew that he was right.

The three of the heroes were getting ready to go to the site where her team disappeared. Livy had pulled her hair back into a neater braid and placed her mask on her face while the two other heroes changed as well.

"Yes. Red Hood is my father." she nodded.

"So that's why you're so skilled with awesome kung fu stuff." Addie grinned. "Has he been training you since birth or something?"

"No. He actually had no clue that I was born until I found him… it's a long story. But that's why I need to know what happened to my team. I care for Arsenal and Starfire, I mean, they've been like an aunt and uncle to me, but I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to my father." Livy sighed heavily, praying that the they would be able to find her team alive.

"Then let's get this show on the road. Is everyone ready?" Addie questioned.

"Yes." Livy nodded and Xavier grunted,

"Yes, just make sure you don't-" Addie grabbed their hands and teleported to the warehouse before Xavier could finish. However something was wrong.

"Make sure I don't what?" Addie inquired and Xavier glared at her.

"Make sure you don't mess up concentrating on where we need to be!" he exclaimed, his glare strong enough to burn a hole through something. Livy noted that they were on the roof of the building instead of inside.

"Whoops." Addie said with a small chuckle. "Sorry guys." With another poof, the three were inside. Nothing much on the inside had changed.

Immediately, Xavier was walking around with his eyes closed.

"Huh. There was a lot of activity here several hours ago." The teen nodded.

"Did anyone die?" Livy inquired, looking around at the dried blood that coated the floor. Her heart was panging with worry for Jason.

"Die? No. No one at all, strangely enough." Xavier informed, his eyebrows furrowed as if he were concentrating on something.

"Then where did all this blood come from?" Addie questioned, and Xavier let out a long sigh.

"Something about it…" he grunted as he squatted down and placed his hand on some of the blood.

"Joseph Nolan." He whispered.

"So, wait. Did someone die here or not?" Livy inquired, and Xavier shook his head.

"Joseph Nolan was killed elsewhere. His body, however, was dragged here and bled here as well."

"Why?" Livy questioned, and Xavier shot her a glare.

"Communicating to the dead is not as easy as you think it is. Give me some time and I'll have some answers." He snapped.

Livy nodded, stepping away from Xavier to let him do his thing while she continued to investigate the rest of the building.

"Huh." Livy mumbled. Her eyes being drawn to something on the ground.

"What is it?" Addie inquired.

"It's… it's a finger nail." Livy informed "A _woman's _finger nail." Addie shuttered at the site of it.

"Ew." Her face then got more serious. "I dunno if it's helpful, but I found some small feathers around here too." Addie informed.

"Feathers?" Livy looked at the other girl in shock. Why would there be feathers at the place?

"Yup. Like Chicken feathers."

"So this warehouse has chicken feathers, a detached woman's finger nail, and a dead man's blood?" Livy questioned to herself and Addie's face paled.

"That sounds like the beginning of a pagan ritual or something."

"Far worse than that." it was Xavier who spoke. "I talked to Mr. Nolan. He was a twenty six year old who wasn't exactly something special. However, he was a virgin."

"A virgin? Like, the man never went romping in the sheets?" Addie inquired and Xavier rolled his eyes.

"Red Fox, nobody talks like that. However, yes, he never had sex." Xavier nodded looking very annoyed at Red Fox. Livy couldn't help wonder if the two never got along, but instead she inquired,

"Okay, so what happened here?" Xavier looked to Livy, looking less annoyed as he started talking to her.

"He was walking home from work and got jumped in an ally way where someone snapped his neck. He then was dragged to this building where his body was part of a ritual praising the gods of Death, suffering, and hopelessness. He was being used as a virgin blood sacrifice." Xavier explained.

"Poor guy." Addie whispered.

"Mind you, he was dead so he didn't feel any pain, but it was horrifying for him to witness what they did out of body. Mr. Nolan's body was stabbed repeatedly to draw out as much blood as possible. There was some more chanting afterwards, but then three people attacked from outside. The chanting people fled, taking Mr. Nolan's bloodless corpse with them and that's when Mr. Nolan decided that he didn't want to see anymore." Xavier informed.

"The three people must have been my team. Do you know where they went? And what were the chanting people trying to accomplish?" Livy questioned and Xavier sighed.

"I only know what Mr. Nolan knew. However, I can follow the energy path that the left when they left. We can follow it and see if anything else happened." Xavier informed and Addie nodded.

"Let's go then." The two girls followed Xavier as he felt out a path.

"This is so weird. I never heard of a cult practice happening in these parts." Addie said with a frown.

"They happen a lot in Gotham." Livy informed, shaking her head. "I swear, there's something in the water that makes the people sadistic whack jobs."

"Sounds exciting." Addie grinned a bit, but Livy shook her head.

"Try a pain. Cults are just plain annoying." Livy huffed.

"Oh." Xavier whispered, wide eyed.

"What is it Polt?" Addie inquired.

"It vanishes."

"What?" Livy looked at the boy in shock.

"The path… it… it just vanishes completely. There's a dark energy that I've never felt before and then… nothing. Not nothing like someone died just… nothing." He shook his head, clearly agitated. "This has never happened before." Xavier sunk to his knees, but then started feeling around the ground for something, like he was trying to catch an ant.

"What is he…"

"He's got something on the tip of his tongue, but doesn't know how to say it. It's a weird concept, but he's searching for an extra push to get the word out." Addie explained.

To Livy's shock, Xavier started crying, clutching his head in pain. He then started shaking and it reminded Livy of her when she was going through a panic attack.

"That's new." Addie whispered as she ran up to the teen's side.

"Polt? Polt? Polt, are you okay? Polt?!" Addie was at Xavier's side with care and worry in her eyes.

"S-so much pain. So much. T-too much." Xavier stuttered as he trembled, and then vomited on the ground. Addie rubbed his back as he started dry heaving, having nothing left in his stomach.

"What's too much? What happened?" Addie questioned in concern, but kept her voice as gentle as possible, seeing that her friend was in such distress.

Xavier clutched tightly onto Addie and whispered,

"Darkseid."

Once the word left his mouth, Xavier passed out, falling limp into Addie's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know it's been awhile and I'm sorry it took so long. I am going to try to update more often. **

**L.L.A.P**

**~Laces**

Chpt.6

Addie quickly transported the three back to her house and placed Xavier onto the couch. He somehow looked more pale than he had originally, the color almost completely gone from his lips. He also proceeded to convulse every several seconds.

"How's he doing?" Livy questioned, her forehead creased in concern as she looked at Xavier.

"I… I don't know what to do. I'm not a doctor." Addie stated her voice high and full of panic.

Livy knelt next to Xavier and started checking his vitals.

"I've never seen something like this." She whispered and Addie looked at her wide eyed.

"Wait, you're a doctor?"

"More like a nurse and I'm not really certified." Livy sighed, eyes still on Xavier. "He seems to be unconscious but also having a panic attack."

"So he's having a nightmare?"

"I don't think so. His eyes would be moving under his lids but he is completely still aside from his spasms. I'm afraid that whatever he's experiencing is mental." Livy informed and something seemed to click in Addie's mind.

"Or his soul is experiencing something."

"Now it's my turn to be at a loss." Livy sighed, looking over at Addie.

"Xavier is exhausted a lot because when he uses his abilities, his soul is kinda being used… like… instead of his body doing the work, it's his soul. It's a bit mental. Anyway, since he's acting so negatively to things, I'm thinking that what he's experience must be something his soul is going through."

"Well, then we have a problem because I don't know how to help heal a soul." Livy stated and Addie sat on the floor next to the couch.

"I don't either and I don't think anyone actually knows. This sounds like something Xavier needs to get through himself."

Livy let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

"So we're helpless… I hate feeling helpless and yet my entire time here has been nothing but helplessness." Livy grumbled in frustration.

"Well… it'll be alright. Xavier always seems to pull through when it comes to this weird paranormally shit." Addie said, flashing a small smile at Livy. Livy chuckled a bit at that.

"So weird paranormally shit happens to him all the time?"

"Almost bi-weekly." Addie grinned. "So… he'll be okay."

"He'll be okay." Livy whispered, trying to convince herself. _He'll be okay and so will Jason and Roy and Kor'i. Everything will be fine._

"So, who's Darkseid?" Addie inquired innocently.

_I hope everything will be fine. _Livy thought, her mind now on Darkseid.

"Darkseid is bad news. He's this alien from a planet called Apokolips and he's gone toe to toe with Superman and almost killed him. He likes pain and suffering and is basically the devil in alien form with Apokolips being his hell."

"So… why did Xavier say his name? Does this thing have anything to do with what happened to your team?" Addie inquired and Livy hummed.

"Dunno. If it does have something to do with Darkseid, it would make sense why the trail we were following disappeared. Darkseid uses this thing called a Boom Tube to transport himself and others two and from Apokolips. So he could have taken my team and whoever else. Why, I don't know." Livy shook her head. "There has to be something I'm missing with this. Why here? If it is Darkseid, why is he here and not where Superman is? Why come here of all places, which isn't as populated? Why make my team disappear? Why have a crazy cult? There just… there has to be something I'm missing." Livy mumbled to herself and Addie stood to her feet.

"You'll figure it out. Unfortunately I'm not much of a detective so I'm going to make some food so I can get something in Xavier's system when he wakes up."

"Alright… do you need any help. I should try to do something to get my mind off all of this. I won't accomplish much if I just sit and think the same questions over and over."

"Yeah, I was just about to make some-" Addie stopped short when there was a knock on her door. She was suddenly stiff and her face hardened.

"What is it?" Livy questioned. her tone holding concern.

"Not many people know there's a house here. Knight and Squire are out of the Country and Xavier usually just walks right in, not to mention he's on the couch right now. No one else should know there's a house here." Addie explained and just then there was another knock.

"Do you want me to open it and see who's there?" Livy inquired and Addie nodded as she teleported a cricket bat into her hand.

Livy slowly walked over to the door and quickly opened it, not knowing what to expect.

In front of her stood a very stoic but hansom looking young man with tan skin, sharp blue eyes and on his back was a larger duffle bag. Livy immediately recognized him as Damian.

"Damian?" she questioned, eyes wide.

"Tt. I told you, I couldn't wait." Damian stated curtly but Livy quickly jumped onto him, engulfing him in a hug.

"I am so happy you're here." She beamed and Damian couldn't help but grin at the girl in his arms.

"I'm happy I finally get to see you." With that he leaned down and Livy felt her lips get engulfed by his. It had been so long since she and Damian had any physical contact. Every kiss was so precious and she never wanted it to end.

"So… I'm taking it I don't have to hit this man with a cricket bat?"

Livy and Damian pulled away and a few feet back from the doorway was Addie.

"Oh, Addie, this is Damian. He's great and he might be able to help out with this whole case."

"I am also her boyfriend." Damian nodded while wrapping an arm around Livy, clearly reveling in the fact that he could be with the girl he loved after so long.

"The same boyfriend you thought broke up with you?" Addie inquired and Damian raised an eyebrow and looked at Livy.

"Damian, you said you couldn't wait and then hung up. What was I supposed to do with that information?" Livy questioned and Damian rolled his eyes.

"Tt. I wouldn't be that vague with a breakup."

"Well come in." Addie grinned. "My name's Addie, by the way. How did you find this place?" Addie inquired as everyone walked into the house and she closed the door.

"I traced the call when Livy contacted me. It wasn't too difficult." Damian shrugged. "So what exactly is going on here?"

"Well…" Addie started as they reached the living room and just then Xavier spasmed violently on the couch, then relaxed again.

"I take it he is not home decor." Damian stated and Addie shook her head.

"Livy's team went missing and we went to investigate. Xavier is a powerful medium and he was following this energy trail when he just… zonked out after saying Darkseid." She explained and Damian raised an eyebrow.

"Darkseid?"

"Yes, and we don't know if Xavier is talking about the actual Darkseid or-"

"AGH!" Livy was cut off by Xavier screaming and he wreathed on the couch. He kept convulsing until finally he opened his eyes and sat up in a cold sweat.

He stared at everyone in the room while everyone silently stared back at him. Addie broke the silence with a,

"Ummm… good morning?"

Xavier shook his head while still breathing heavily.

"Ok, Addie's still stupid so I am really awake."

"Love you too." Addie grumbled but Xavier kept shaking his head.

"Xavier, you were out for a while… what happened?" Livy inquired slowly and Xavier looked at her with a face of terror and panic.

"He's coming and we are all going to die."


End file.
